The former “Bachelorette”-Candidate Philipp Stehler suffers from ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammation of the large intestine. On the MDR talk show “Riverboat” the 33-year-old now described his ordeal.
A few days ago the earlier “Bachelorette”-Candidate Philipp Stehler made public on his Instagram account that he suffers from the intestinal disease ulcerative colitis and had to live with an artificial anus for a year and a half. It is the first time that Stehler has spoken in such detail about his illness, even though he felt the first symptoms ten years ago.
“I was ashamed. I found that really difficult”, said Stehler now during an appearance on the MDR talk show “Riverboat”. He was worried about his image because he was always the fit, muscular influencer for his Instagram community. “What do people think of me? They see me very differently”, Stehler summarized his concerns.
Before appearing on TV, the 33-year-old trained with the police. In his early twenties he suddenly developed diarrhea and stomach cramps. “I didn’t know what it is. It just hurt something”said Stehler. At first he believed he was lactose intolerant, but when he had a bloody stool, he noticed that this is not normal. After a month-long odyssey with various doctors, a gastroenterologist finally diagnosed ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammation of the large intestine. Stehler was prescribed medication and believed that he had the disease under control.
But his excessive lifestyle has made everything worse. 2015, while participating in the third season “Die Bachelorette”, he already had to be treated in the hospital. Stehler made it to the so-called dream dates on the TV show. He and Bachelorette Alisa Persch were in Bangkok when he collapsed.
Philipp Stehler initially refused an intestinal operation
“I was out of therapy. The last step was the surgery. The affected areas are removed. Unfortunately for me that was the whole colon, it was already black”, Stehler described his ordeal. But he initially refused the operation and lived nine days without eating solid food – until he had to undergo emergency surgery.
“I already had budding sepsis. The doctor said it would not have gone well for a long time, maybe a day or two. When I woke up from the anesthetic, there was a bag hanging there. I couldn’t look for a week because it was so difficult for me to accept that I was a fitness influencer before surgery, and then I have a pouch on my stomach. It took a long time to process that”said Stehler. To make matters worse, his girlfriend at the time left him at the bedside because she couldn’t handle the situation.
In the meantime, Stehler has got rid of the artificial anus. After several operations, it was removed in September 2020. And the 33-year-old also has a new wife at his side, model Vanessa Ciomber. “She has a medical background. My illness was not important to her, I was important to her”said Stehler about the 30-year-old.
You can see the entire appearance of Philipp Stehler at
I am a 24-year-old writer and journalist who has been working in the news industry for the past two years. I write primarily about market news, so if you’re looking for insights into what’s going on in the stock market or economic indicators, you’ve come to the right place. I also dabble in writing articles on lifestyle trends and pop culture news.
